new family member

Welcome to our newest family member, Butch the bunny.  Or at least that is the name he came with; other options still pending.  My daughter Emily has been working hard to earn the bunny that has been her heart's desire.  So we headed to the Oakland Animal Shelter to have a look at the bunnies there, and happily came home with Butch.  He is calm, affectionate, and happy to sit in your lap; wonderful characteristics for a young girl's pet.  She slept nearby him his first night here in his new home, making sure he was comfortable and safe.  I think Butch will be happy here; and I know Emily will make a great caretaker and friend.  It has been wonderful to watch her care for him.  My girl wants to live in a barn on a farm, which isn't easy right now, so sleeping by her new bunny will hopefully be close enough.......

homemade ricotta

I finally got to one of K. Ruby Blume's cheesemaking classes last week - offered by the Institute of Urban Homesteading, headquartered here in Oakland.  She is an inspiring yet practical teacher, and offers great hands-on classes.  Ever since I helped a friend make mozzarella many years back, I somehow knew making cheese was one of my callings.  And I have had many unfulfilled cheesemaking urges lately.  No longer!  This week I bought some cheesecloth from the Oak Barrel in Berkeley, and got to work making my first batch (well, second...) of ricotta.  It is so simple to make; just heat up good milk and stir in lemon juice (in my case, giant ones from our friends' tree - a wonderful part of living here in Oakland), wait for curds to form, strain off the whey, and you have cheese.  With garlic and some fresh herbs mixed in, it couldn't be more delicious.  Here's a similar recipe from Smitten Kitchen if you want to try it yourself.

luddite cell phone

As made by my daughter, who clearly has some of her mother's blood running through her.  How it makes me smile!

spring potatoes

I love the colors purple and green together in the Spring.  And I love discovering spring vegetables growing and hiding underground.  And what should I dig up today when I was peeking at how far along those baby potatoes might be?  Purple potatoes.  I had forgotten that I planted the purple ones (among others) late last year.  I usually order my seed potatoes from Peaceful Valley up in Grass Valley, and plant them in November; but now is a great time to plant potatoes as well.  The fresh ones have such a vivid color and taste to them.  I can't wait to dig some more (thought I would wait for my daughter to help, seeing that they are planted in "her" bed) and cook them up.

late winter snow

We managed to sneak in another visit to the snowy mountains, this time hiking into our friends' lovely cozy cabin.  It makes for a fun adventure -- at least this time when we remembered to pack light, and each only had a pack on our backs.  Last year we snowshoed in with at least 6 feet of snow below us.  This year it was only a foot or so, yet still wonderfully wintery.  My son and I got in a little more skiing, and we all had fun sledding and playing in the snow, and then drying off by the wood stove, knitting and drinking cocoa (with a little shot of scotch).  A great weekend it was.

matching game

When life gives you lemons, yes.........When life gives you long lost snowshoes (one buried beneath a winter snow, found in May, and returned in July), my brain muscles get a workout (hoping this "strengthening" will help me later in life).  And, at last, I find the other snowshoe in the bin with the roller blades (at least some relation).  Victory!  That missing mitten that we thought was left somewhere on the East Coast, found and reunited with its pair!  And my search for the snowshoe uncovered those long lost goggles, tucked away in a spare bag....

spring

Plans change yesterday afternoon, the way they sometimes do, and I suddenly had an hour and a half alone up in Tilden Park.  I had a beautiful hike up along a ridge with views of Briones Reservoir, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Pablo Bay.  The sky was like a painting.  The air was cool and calm (the way I aspire to be).  And the wildflowers (and mud) were greeting me with the message that Spring has arrived!

pea trellis

I have been wanting to build a new pea trellis for weeks, but it has fallen down on the list of important things to do around here.  The last few years we have built a bamboo teepee and hung netting around it.  Last year we tried this wonderful jute netting, which the squirrels quickly chewed through, thus making a mess of my dear pea plants.  This year, I had a slightly different idea - an A frame of bamboo with twine providing the vertical support.   Tom helped out with the binding (he is the knot man!).   No squirrelly problems thus far, and it gives me such joy to look at the kitchen window and see the trellis, with the peas trying to reach up and grow.

morning muffins

After enjoying some wonderful homemade bread from Green Gulch, I was inspired to bake muffins in the morning.  I had seen a millet muffin recipe (find it here, if you scroll down) recently in my new favorite cookbook, Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson, and decided to give it a try.  Healthy ingredients (yogurt, honey, whole wheat flour, lemon zest, millet........) combine to make a delicious muffin - particularly slathered with butter, and accompanied by a mug of tea.  It was a great way to spend an early morning baking with my daughter.

green gulch

I had the pleasure of spending a rainy blustery day last week at Green Gulch up in Marin doing yoga with my favorite teacher, Sarana, and a great group of folks.  The wind howled, the trees blew, the rain pelted down outside, and we stayed warm inside as we sat and moved.  We had a delicious vegetable soup with homemade warm bread, followed by an invigorating walk down through the early spring gardens to the chilly and windy ocean beach, during a break in the rain.  Our walk back was a wet one, but we were able to head indoors to the warmth and some great stretching and relaxing.  My body and spirit were renewed again.

common vision

They finally came.  And we planted.  And how great it was.  I have been working with my kids’ school to bring Common Vision there for quite awhile.  They are an amazing, inspiring organization that plants fruit trees in schoolyards all over California, among other eco-friendly things.  There was a great puppet performance, including Rock the Bike’s bike-powered stage.  They then taught hundreds of kids to plant 16 fruit trees all over the campus.  At the end of the day our orchard care crew got great training in tree care and pruning; these guys and gals really know what they are doing.  Very inspirational!

ode to my farm box

I love opening up my farm box each week, and finding the surprises it offers me.  It allows me to fully experience the changing of the seasons and challenges inspires me to cook with different vegetables and find new recipes.  I have subscribed to a CSA or farm box since 1993, with a few breaks.  I started with Full Belly, when I had no garden of my own (and when I hadn't yet found the joy of kale and kohlrabi), and when I still missed the seasonal changes of the East Coast.  It was my window into the joys of the West Coast growing calendar.  I fondly remember getting green garlic for the first time (and making green garlic dip!), and then watching it get bigger in the following weeks.

When our school started a farm box to support the gardening program several years ago, I signed up and now help assemble the boxes many Wednesday mornings with some old and new friends.  The box is lovingly created each week by Crossley:  full of local, organic fruits and veggies, accompanied by delicious recipes.

community pot pie

It makes me feel so good to be living amongst friends.  I am never without a neighbor I can ask for an egg or cup of milk.  We have friends upstairs, next door, and across the street, and they always remind me why I like living in my community.  We had a spontaneous group dinner a short while ago; our upstairs neighbor wanted to make a pot pie.  I made the crust, he made the filling (which was scrumptious), and our neighbor Kristen came by with her kids, and turned out some lovely leaves for the top.  

home making

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than making things?  At least that’s how I felt yesterday  - most of the time, when I wasn’t feeling down about the mess around me, that is.  We had kids making models, sculpting, and carving all around the table.  And I got to join in as well.  The cement was a little much (so we had breaks and aired things out), but the group effort was lovely, and my son’s railway is about to get a new trackside restaurant. All followed by bike repair (finally fixed that darn slow leak in my front tire) and rocket launching out on the street with neighbors.  A maker filled Sunday, I would say…… 

woodburning makes a comeback

Last week I assisted a fellow parent in helping my son’s classmates burn designs onto wooden bowls.  I hadn’t touched a wood burning tool in at least 30 years, but found it was actually quite gratifying.  We found that another tool was going to help move the project along, so I happily offered to buy one (thank goodness they still sell these at the art shop blocks from my house).  And once it came home, I had to put it to use.  Hmmmmm, what could I burn?  I looked around and found some redwood scraps, and remembered a friend’s birthday coming up.  A bedroom sign was born: sanding, sketching, and burning, followed by a little mineral oil.  Even the kids got into the project and made their own presents.  What an enjoyable way to spend a Friday afternoon!

making yogurt

I gave my daughter a yogurt maker for her 4th birthday, and it has been well-used ever since.  I love the little glass jars and how the kids can help themselves to a nice sized portion.  She loves the yogurt, perhaps even more than I do, and particularly loves the homemade maple vanilla variety we make at home.  It is so simple, and therefore even more wonderful, to make at night and then wake up and eat warm homemade yogurt in the morning.  With strawberries, ideally, but jam can sometimes be substituted.



Yogurt Recipe
Whole milk: for our yogurt maker we use 42 oz. or 5 ¼ cups of whole milk 
(you can also use 2%, but then I add a ¼ cup of powdered milk to get it as thick as we like)
Vanilla: 1 tsp or so
Maple Syrup: 1/4 cup or so
Yogurt starter: we usually use 3 spoonfuls of a previous batch or plain organic yogurt from the store


Heat the milk slowly in a tall pot on the stove over low/medium heat.  It is important, if tedious, to continue watching the milk get hot.  Use a thermometer and wait for it to hit 170 degrees, but not have it boil.   If it boils it is not ruined, but try to catch it beforehand.  Then stir in the vanilla and maple syrup (and smell the delicious aroma), and set the pot in a sink filled with cool water.  Cool the pot until the milk temperature reaches 108 degrees.  


Next take a cup or so of the warm milk and stir or whisk in several tablespoons of existing yogurt until all lumps disappear; add the mixture back to the pot.  Then ladle or pour the milk into the small jars and put them (without lids) into the yogurt maker.  Push the button and set for 8-9 hours, and you too will have delicious yogurt in the morning.

woodworking

My daughter decided she wanted a bed for her doll Julie.  Her friends had doll beds, and she wanted one too - the way it can be when you are 6.  We talked about how she might make one, and she immediately started drawing what she wanted.  We worked to turn it into a real buildable project - her first "blueprint" as it were - and the following weekend a bed was born.  She and her Dad got out the tools and found some old plywood and set to work.  I got involved in the afternoon when we painted the bed.  And it was ready for Julie by sundown.  A wonderful way to spend the day!

early spring planting

I finally got to plant in the garden this weekend.  What a nourishing 30 minutes it was.  Or maybe it was an hour............ as I weeded, turned the soil, turned the compost pile, dug out some fresh compost, added it to the bed, and planted the little lettuce and kale seedlings, amongst some of their older cousins.  Sometimes I start my own, but now that local growers Kassenhoff sell seedlings at our local farmers' market, it feels great to get them and plant them - all in a day.  And perhaps because the well-tended organic seedlings are started nearby, they all seem to flourish and grow well in our garden.  Here's to the homegrown salad we will be enjoying in about a month..........

I also finally found flowerettes growing in my cauliflower.  I have been checking them weekly, hoping that they would finally grow the little ones.  It happened quickly, likely with the recent warm weather, as the little "flowers" are already an inch across - maybe you can see below.